21st Birthday
by Chaotix Kitsune
Summary: On his 21st birthday, Vector gets sick with the flu. Espio decides to be his nurse and hopes to get him back to his normal self. Vector's loving this extra attention he's getting. Yaoi, Vecpio fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Second fan fiction. Vector comes down with the flu on his 21st birthday. Espio decides to take it upon himself to take care of him. Though most would be bummed to be sick on their birthday, but Vector is kinda pleased to have a sexy chameleon nurse to do things for him =P

Contains mild Vecpio fluff X3

* * *

Twenty-one. An age that many cannot wait to reach. It's the age where one truly reaches adulthood.

Today was Vector's birthday. Although, the more appropriate term would be "hatch day". Vector might have been excited about turning 21 if he hadn't completely forgotten that today was his birthday. A splitting headache left him dazed and unfocused. Vector struggled to do his work under the mounting pain.

"Let's see… This check is for… the water bill, right? No, no. It's for the heating bill… Or is it?"

After Vector got everything figured out, he leaned back into his chair and turned off the small desk lamp. He let out a moan while trying to shield his eyes from the little light that was in the room. To make things worse, he started to feel extremely hot. Parched, he decided to get a glass of water. As an aquatic reptile, it was important for him to stay hydrated.

Vector left his office only to come into a dark living room.

"Why's it so dark in here?"

Vector patted the wall until he found a light switch. Once the light went on…

"SURPRISE!!!"

Charmy had sprung up from the couch wearing a party hat over his helmet and had a party whistle in his hand. Vector cringed when Charmy blew into it.

"What's this for?" asked Vector.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten your own birthday." Espio said, coming from the kitchen with a cake in hand.

"Huh… I guess I did forget." he said with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Come on Vector!" Charmy said. "This is your day! Let's party!"

Espio placed the cake on the coffee table. It was complete with 21 candles; each one representing a year of Vector's life. Vector was seated on the couch as Espio and Charmy sang "Happy Birthday" to him. During the song, Espio couldn't help but notice that Vector's color seemed paler than usual. After they were finished, Vector quickly thought of a wish and blew out the candles. That seemed to be a bad idea because he went into a coughing spasm afterwards.

"You alright?" Espio asked.

"Yeah… Just got something caught in my throat."

Espio removed the candles and began to cut the cake into sections.

"Ooh… I want that piece!" said Charmy.

"Charmy… Vector is supposed to go first."

"It's alright. Charmy, you can have any piece you want. I'm not that hungry anyway."

Vector, not hungry? Espio almost dropped the cake cutter when he heard the words "I'm not hungry" come from Vector's lips.

"But, this is your favorite flavor."

"Yeah, I know. And I appreciate everything you two did for me. But I'm just not in the mood for this."

Suspicious, Espio moved in close to have a good look at Vector's face.

"Err… what?" Vector asked.

"You look a little flushed…"

"Nah, I'm fine."

Espio then placed a hand on Vector's forehead. His eyes widened as he felt the heat.

"You're not fine. You're burning up."

"Vector's sick?" asked Charmy.

"Really Espio, it's not a big deal."

"Not another word." said Espio as he gently pushed Vector down onto the couch so that he was lying down. "I'm getting the thermometer."

After Espio left the room, Charmy attempted to grab a piece of cake.

"Don't you dare touch that cake, Charmy." said Espio from another room.

"Aww…" he said disappointment.

Espio returned with the thermometer moments later. He placed it in Vector's mouth and turned his head to the clock on the wall. After three minutes passed, he removed the thermometer from the crocodile's mouth.

"102.4 degrees… It's a fever all right."

Vector sighed known that there was no escape from Espio now. The chameleon pushed the coffee table out of the way before grabbing the blanket that was folded up on the chair. He then threw it over the ill crocodile.

"You need to rest for now. Can I get you anything?"

"Well… some water would be nice."

Espio nodded and headed for the kitchen.

"So when can we eat the cake?" Charmy asked.

"I don't think we'll be eating it. Vector already blew on it and we might pick up his germs if we eat it."

"Man…"

"Sorry Charmy…" Vector said. "I promise I'll make it up to ya."

Vector's throat began to feel dry again which forced him to cough some more. Espio quickly returned to the living room after hearing the coughing spasm. He handed the glass to Vector.

"Thanks…" he said in a rather horse voice.

While Vector was drinking the water, Espio turned to Charmy.

"Think you can play quietly upstairs?"

"Yes sir! No prob!"

Vector's eye twitched as the pain in his head returned.

"On second thought, why don't you go see a movie? Here, I'll give you enough so you can take Cream with you."

"Yeah… Guess that's cool."

"Charmy's gotta girlfriend…" Vector teased.

"Do not! She's just my friend!"

Espio eventually got Charmy to leave the house so Vector could have peace and quiet.

"By your reaction to loud noises, I'm guessing you have a headache too?"

"Yeah… Since I woke up."

Espio went back to the kitchen.

"You should have said you weren't feeling well."

"Didn't think I was that sick…"

"Even so, it's not good to work when you have a headache."

He returned with a damp washcloth and placed it on Vector's forehead.

"Hopefully that'll bring your fever down and ease your headache."

"Thanks 'Ma'."

Espio knelt down so that he was at eye level with Vector.

"Call me if you need anything else, 'Sweetie'." Espio then started to gently stroke the side of Vector's face. "Love ya…"

"Back at 'cha, babe." he said while rubbing Espio's back.

Espio disposed of the contaminated cake. Afterwards, he decided to take advantage of Charmy's absence to do some meditation. But it seemed he couldn't concentrate because Vector would have a coughing fit every so often. But he worked with what he had.

* * *

Oh yeah, Vector's gonna love the extra attention XD


	2. Chapter 2

Been a while since I uploaded a new chapter for this story. The beginning of this chapter explains exactly how Espio and Vector wound up as lovers. I think I probably rushed the Vecpio in chapter 1. I hope this is a little better. R&R please.

* * *

_Vector and Espio had been "undercover lovers" for quite some time now. They were especially secretive about their affection for one another around Charmy. They wanted to wait for an appropriate moment to tell him. Their relationship was only known by a few and suspected by many._

_When Espio began working with the Chaotix, he never in his wildest dreams imagined that he and Vector would be sexually intimate. In fact, he first thought the crocodile was irritating and unprofessional. The complete opposite of himself. But he found him to be a loyal friend in years to come. _

_Then one night, a storm hit and caused a power outage. Charmy just happened to be on the other side of town having a sleep over with Tails, Marine, Cream. Without electricity, it was impossible to watch television. Also, Vector's MP3 player happened to be dead. Not knowing what else to do, he started to chat with Espio. They spent hours talking about missions they had done as well as life before the Chaotix._

_Espio was a well known introvert and barely spoke of himself to others. But there was something about Vector that made him feel comfortable enough to talk about his inner-most thoughts, as well as his inner-most demons. He eventually told Vector about his childhood. About never knowing his parents and having to fend for himself in a harsh world. This was something that Vector could very well relate to. It seemed they had more in common than they initially thought._

_They spent some time trying to comfort one another which eventually lead to cuddling. The cuddling then lead to kissing. And finally, the kissing lead to intercourse. It seemed to have happened really fast. Time itself seemed to come to a stand still and they were the only ones in motion. It all felt so right, as if it was meant to be. After the storm had passed and morning came, Espio and Vector's relationship had evolved into something more._

_

* * *

_

A while later Charmy called the house to let Espio know that the movie was over. Espio managed to convince him to go to Cream's house. Vector had finally fallen asleep and he did not want Charmy coming home and waking him up. The chameleon then decided to give Cream's mother, Vanilla, a call.

_"Hello?"_ she said.

"Hey, Miss Vanilla. It's me, Espio."

_ "Oh hello, Espio. __Did Cream come back to your place?"_

"No. She and Charmy are heading your way. I'm sorry this is all of a sudden but Vector's really sick right now. I was wondering if you can take Charmy under your wing for a little while."

_ "Of course I will. It's no trouble at all. I do hope Vector feels better soon."_

"Thank you. Good-bye."

_ "Good-bye"._

Espio hung up the phone quietly and went to check on Vector. Luckily, he was still sound asleep. But the washcloth that was on his forehead had slipped off. Espio dampened it once more and then put it back on Vector's forehead. Afterwards, the chameleon decided to have a light snack followed by some more meditation.

A few hours passed by. Espio had apparently fallen asleep while meditating. The clock in his room said it was midnight.

"This late already? Better check on Vector."

He came to the living room only to see an empty couch. Vector was nowhere in sight.

"Where'd he go?"

Suddenly, the front door opened. Vector came in with a slightly nauseous look on his face.

"What were you doing outside?"

"I had to throw up… I used the dumpster out back."

"Why didn't you just use the toilet?"

"Huh… You've obviously never seen a crocodile vomit before."

Vector went into the kitchen to wash his hands and face.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Well, I feel much better now that I got that outta me. But I'm still a bit woozy. Charmy in bed already?"

"He's at Cream's house. I told him to stay there until you feel better."

"Heh, good idea. Now we have the house to ourselves…" he said while gently running his finger down Espio's back.

"Come off it… We aren't doing that when you're sick."

"Alright, alright. Have it your…"

Vector was interrupted by yet another coughing fit; this one more violent than the others. He leaned against the counter in an attempt to stabilize himself. His body would sink lower and lower with each cough. He felt the gentle touch of Espio's helping hand on his shoulder. A few moments later, the coughing stopped. Vector's breath came out in a shaky gasp.

"We should get you lying down again before you get any worse." Espio suggested.

He helped Vector to his feet and led him back to the living room. He then plopped right back on the couch.

"Can I get you anything? Some tea maybe?"

"That sounds fine…"

Espio went back to the kitchen and began boiling a pot of water.

_"I really hope it isn't serious."_ He thought to himself_. "I was hoping it was just a cold… But the vomiting. It might be something else."_

The tea was done about 10 minutes later. Espio poured it into a mug and blew on it to cool it off a little. By the time he returned to the living room, Vector had already fallen back asleep.

_"Darn… all for nothing… Well, at least he's getting his rest."_

Espio placed the mug on the table and sat down on the floor near Vector. He could see the muscles along his snout twitching in discomfort. The chameleon didn't like seeing his lover in such bad shape. Not knowing what else to do, he began to stroke the side of Vector's head gently. This was soothing to the sick crocodile and caused him to dawn a small smile.

_"Yeah… I know you like that…"_ Espio thought to himself.

As soon as Vector was at peace, Espio left him to rest.

* * *

The next morning came. Espio had awoken around 7 am. He stretched and let out a yawn before getting out of bed. The chameleon tiptoed down the stairs to make sure that he didn't wake the crocodile if he was indeed sleeping. But he came to yet another empty couch.

"Oh now where did he go?"

As he pondered for a moment, he began to hear the sound of coughs coming from Vector's office.

_"He wouldn't dare…"_ he thought.

He marched right over to the office and put his ear on the door.

"Sure… I'll start working on your case right away…"

The door opened with a bang. Vector was so startled that he almost dropped the phone.

"Oh… heh…. Hi Espio…"

"What do you think you're doing?"

"It-It's not what it looks like."

"Vector? Hello?" said a voice coming from the earpiece of the phone.

Espio snatched the phone from Vector's hand.

"I'm terribly sorry. Vector's not taking any cases right now. Please call back another time."

He then put the phone back on the cradle.

"Well there's one customer we're not getting back…" Vector mumbled.

"How could you even think about working in your condition?"

"You got it all wrong. I feel much better today."

Espio reached across the desk and put his hand on Vector's forehead.

"You're still burning up."

"You're overreact…"

His speech was cut off by another coughing fit.

"You see?"

"Look… Money's getting tight around here. I need to work."

"You think I don't know that? But you need to take it easy. You're never going to get well if you don't."

"Stop worryin' about me already. I'll be fine."

Espio frowned.

"Fine. Why should I have to worry about you when you won't make the effort to take care of yourself?"

He left the office, slamming the door behind him.

"Oy…" Vector sighed.

He followed the chameleon to the living room who was sitting arms crossed in the chair.

"Don't be like this, Esp. We need the money."

He didn't reply back, knowing how much Vector hated it when he ignored him.

"Espio…? Say something."

Silence. The crocodile paced back and forth. The chameleon continued to ignore him. He then thought talking to him in a squeaky voice would get him to laugh. He knelt down to Espio's eye level and said:

"Espio. Please don't be mad at me. It makes me sad…"

The chameleon was unfazed. Vector let out a loud sigh.

"Alright… you win. I'll rest. Now stop ignoring me already."

"Hm… It's much too easy to persuade you. You're losing your touch."

"Am not… My weakness just happens to be a beautiful purple chameleon."

"Flattery will get you no where." he said as he tapped the end of Vector's snout. "Come on. Back to the couch with you. I'll make you some chicken soup."

"Yes sir…"

Espio could be a nag at times. But Vector wouldn't have it any other way. He settled himself on the couch and Espio made a bowl of delicious chicken soup just for him. Even Vector wanted to make a buck, it was very pleasant to have someone caring for him like this.


End file.
